Three domes
Panthéon vs Les Invalides vs Sacré-Cœur
Three domes break the Paris skyline for three different reasons — a crypt of citizens, an emperor's tomb, and a basilica built as a vow.
See current listings on Viator ↗Three Paris domes, compared
| Monument | Height | What's inside |
|---|---|---|
| Panthéon | 83 metres | A crypt of more than eighty people honoured by the nation |
| Dôme des Invalides | 107 metres | Napoleon's tomb, in the complex that houses the Army Museum |
| Sacré-Cœur | 83 metres | A working basilica with a 475-square-metre apse mosaic |
Three buildings with three different jobs
The Panthéon is a neoclassical church turned mausoleum; the Dôme des Invalides is a baroque royal chapel that became Napoleon's tomb; Sacré-Cœur is a Romano-Byzantine basilica on Montmartre, completed in 1914 and still a working church.
What's actually inside each one
The Panthéon's crypt holds more than eighty honoured citizens; the Dôme des Invalides holds the emperor's sarcophagus in an open crypt beneath the dome, within the complex that houses the Army Museum; Sacré-Cœur holds a congregation and a 475-square-metre apse mosaic, one of the largest in the world.
The views don't compare the same way
The Panthéon's colonnade is seasonal, booked separately, and currently listed as closed by the monument's own site. Sacré-Cœur's dome is open to visitors and looks out from the top of Montmartre, about 200 metres above the Seine, and the basilica itself is free to enter. The Invalides has no public dome climb.
Crowds and tickets
The Panthéon and the Invalides are both ticketed. Sacré-Cœur's basilica is free; its dome climb is charged separately, which keeps its queues moving differently from the other two.
If you can only manage one
Pick the Panthéon for the history of ideas and the writers and scientists in the crypt below it; the Invalides for military history and Napoleon; Sacré-Cœur if a view and a working church matter more than either.